The Return to Normalcy
by Kkoolade
Summary: When tragedy strikes South Park it is all Craig Tucker can do not to lose control. His only goal is to make it out of the city and wait out the terrors until things are back to normal. But getting back to normal requires him to stay alive. Highschool, Zombie AU
1. Chapter 1

This wasn't normal. I could tell by the way the Principal spoke over the speaker. It was with urgency and a certain amount of panic I'd never heard someone express before. He told us to lock all the classroom doors, turn off the lights, and remain silent. Then he kept repeating stay calm, stay calm, stay calm.

This wasn't a drill. This wasn't something that was going to vanish overnight. This wasn't just one of those stupid things that only happen in South Park. For the first time, I was scared. For the first time, I was afraid things wouldn't go back to normal.

It was the last block before the end of the day and I was spending it huddled in the corner next to Kenny. Both girls and boys were rambling frantically about what they thought was going on. Among those conversations, I heard murderer on the loose multiple times and one kid kept pushing it was aliens. I didn't really have much of an opinion.

My Chemistry teacher was sitting at his desk looking pale. He was obviously unnerved by the fact that he couldn't get the class to quiet down. I had no problem sitting there on the floor undisturbed until further instruction, but Kenny kept prodding my side asking me to google what was going on. Despite my annoyance with his persistency, I searched multiple things on my phone and came up with nothing. Whatever was going on was recent. I texted my parents and after ten slow minutes decided I wasn't going to get a response from that either.

After half an hour had passed I leaned my head back against the wall and sighed. Most of the room had quieted down to a whisper. Kenny had stopped asking me questions. I looked at the window above where I was seated. My teacher had insisted that we pull down the blinds and that no one was to go near them. I suddenly wondered if being on the second floor was a good or a bad thing.

"Wait, guys, listen to this," one of the girls in my class announced. She drew the attention of the room. "Annie, who's in art on the first floor, said they saw some crazy person walking outside. "

Immediately following her statement, the room exploded again with people's theories. Except now, a wave a fear flowed through the kids. The teacher started speaking again, telling them it was nonsense and they just need to be patient and quiet. I won't deny that my heart beat sped up some.

Kenny leaned over to whisper to me. "I think we need to leave."

Before I could even shoot him a look of doubt, a scream sounded from somewhere in the building. That scream was followed by more screams. Those screams were followed by looks of terror by everyone in my classroom, including me.

I stood up instinctively and Kenny followed, if not a little delayed. My chemistry class erupted in panic, one boy was already crying. What was originally some exciting, messed up debate switched to reality within a matter of seconds. Some kids charged the door, some others suggested we pile desks in front of it, and the others yelled at the teacher like he knew any more than the rest of us. It was amazing how we took fire drills and lockdown drills like such a joke. When it actually came down to it, none of us could remain calm. But to be fair, you can't really predict how an individual is going to act in a state of emergency.

I was frozen, but Kenny was all adrenalin. He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled us through the crowd that was currently my classroom. He shoved us through the door and didn't even allow me a second to protest. He quickly analyzed the relatively quiet hallway and released my arm, but he looked at me to make sure I was going to follow.

Nodding, I glanced to the closest staircase to the left. I was greeted by a pile of students pouring through the doors and flooding the second floor. The screaming that could still be heard from the first floor echoed throughout that staircase and made my stomach turn. _What the hell is down there? _Kenny tapped my shoulder and I tore my eyes away from the crowd. We took off to the right and presumably, were heading to the back staircase we could only use at the end of the day.

When we reached the landing of that back staircase, we realized that other kids and adults had the same idea. Some of them were running up the stairs, but the majority were running out of the doors. Kenny ran out the door and as I followed, I tried to look back into the first floor hallway, but could see nothing.

We didn't stop running until we reached the tree line; I think I forgot how to breathe. I placed my hand on a tree and bent over gasping for breath. The blare of sirens could be heard in the distance.

"I know a way to get to my house through here. Come on, let's go," Kenny said. Kenny started walking and I said "Wait." He stopped and looked at me. "What's going on, do you know what's going on?"

"No, but I have the common sense to know it's bad."

I couldn't come up with an argument against that, so I kept trailing him back to his house. Multiple times while in the woods, Kenny stopped to check his surroundings. He was rather poised considering how jumpy everyone at school was –with seemingly good reason- so I was happy he was with me. I was no picture of calm, that was for sure.

I thought I saw someone on the street walking oddly through the trees, but I might have just been imagining that. Fear can make you see things, so I tried to just focus on what Kenny was doing. That seemed to suffice until we made it to the train tracks next to his house.

"Alright, let's just grab what we need and get out of here," I said looking around from the tracks. I didn't know what I was looking for, but Kenny was right, it was bad.

"Get out of here?"

I thought that sounded like a stupid question. "Of course. Let's go somewhere safe, get out of the city till things calm down. Till we know what's going on or something." That's what any smart person would do right?

"I have to find Karen," he said it so simply, like it should have been obvious to me.

"What? We need to leave. I'm not going to be that stupid person that hangs around until they're killed because they blow off the danger. Didn't you hear those screams back at the high school?"

"Yeah, I did. But I'm not leaving the city without Karen. Until I know where she is and what has happened, I'm staying. She skipped school today because she had a doctor's appointment. If she isn't in my house, then I'll start at the school and look for her."

By the way Kenny said it, I knew it wasn't something I could question. When Kenny and I reached high school and became better friends, he told me about all the times he had to protect his little sister. When his parents were fighting, when other kids were picking on her, and that one time they had to go to an orphanage. She meant a lot to him. Nothing I could say was going to convince him to come with me.

"You're going to go back into the city?" Kenny and his friends were always like that. They know there is danger but they don't even give it a second thought before diving right into it.

"If I have to. Wouldn't you do the same for Ruby?"

That hit me in the gut. I cared for my family, of course I did. But if it came down to it, I don't think I could give up my life for anybody. I guess I'm just selfish that way.

I didn't answer. Kenny rested a hand on my shoulder and said "Good luck." Then, just like that, he walked to his house. One of my best friends of three years, gone with two words. Were goodbyes easier when they were short? He wasn't coming with me and I wasn't going to see him again. I stood there stunned as I watched him stand in front of his house. He took a deep breath and then pushed open his front door, the one with the broken lock. I had a feeling that Karen wasn't in there.

I tried to focus on my next move. I could follow these tracks out of the city. But then I realized with just the clothes on my back I wouldn't make it that far. I thought through a few other plans before it hit me overwhelmingly that I was alone. The fear surged through me all at once again: the screams at the school and the look on the faces of those kids who had come from the first floor.

_What the hell am I going to do? _I dropped to my knees on the tracks. It was the first time I had caught my breath since leaving the school and I was losing it again. Tears stung my eyes and panic rocked my chest. Going with Kenny was suicide. _How many times has he gotten himself killed?_ Leaving the city with nothing was also suicide. I looked around again like something would aid my decision: nothing did.

With no other way I could think to go, I decided that going back to my house and assessing things further when there was my best idea. My parents would know what to do. How could I even think to leave without them? Was I really that careless? I wiped a few tears from my eyes and started heading west.


	2. Chapter 2

My house wasn't more than two blocks from Kenny's. I tried to remain casual as I walked, forcing my breathing to be slow. Whatever was at the school I hoped wasn't anywhere near me.

I pulled out my phone and tried calling my parents but the lines were backed up. I couldn't help but notice how eerily quiet the neighborhood street was. Very few cars were in their driveways and no one was walking about.

As I came up on my house I saw the first person since leaving Kenny's. It looked like an older woman, maybe one of the new neighbors who had moved in down the street. She was hunched over motioning at the ground. My first thought was gardening, but why in front of Kevin's house?

When I reached my yard I almost called out to ask if she knew what was going on, but I stopped dead in my tracks. The woman (_is that what you'd call it?)_ uncurled herself from ground. Red dripped down the front of her green shirt and made an ugly brown stain wherever it soaked into the fabric. Now that I was within a few yards of my front door, I could see what she had been hunched over: a mangled body.

My hand came to my mouth and I stood still. The thing wavered before stumbling closer to Kevin Stoley's window. If I wasn't so petrified, I probably would've thrown up. Lucky for me, the thing didn't notice me standing here, not yet anyway.

I mentally got a hold of myself. If I moved quickly and quietly I could make it inside my door without gaining its attention. My hand dropped to my pocket and I panicked for a moment because I thought I lost my keys, but they were just in my other pocket. I took one step and looked up, as if the small noise was as loud as the thunder, but the creature kept clawing at the window.

A few sets of carefully placed steps brought me to my porch. It was good that there was little snow on the ground even though it was winter. If there had been, making it those few yards might have been a different story. One icy porch step would've been the end of me.

My hand shook as I brought the key up to my door. I inserted it into the lock and tensed as I looked over to see if I had been noticed. Although I was now standing parallel to the creature, it still hadn't seemed to notice me. Its stringy blonde hair hid its face and, I hoped, its eyes.

_Everything is going well. _I turned the key in the lock and it made an audible click. My heart leapt up into my throat. I glanced to the side and there it was, and it had heard it. Never in my life had I wanted to scream, cry, and die all in one moment.

Its face was awful. The color of its skin was pale and creepy enough, but the face itself had been massacred. Someone must have taken a knife to it in a struggle because deep wounds were slashed across the nose and cheeks. The lacerated skin stuck out in disturbing angles. Its jaw seemed to be dislocated and hung open in a grotesque manner. Blood stained the lower half of its face. The hair that had gotten caught in the blood of the victim had either dried in thin tendrils or stuck to the creature's cheeks. None of this subtracted from its eyes though, which were yellowy and fierce. As it lumbered toward me awkwardly, the eyes were focused solely on me.

It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. It was some fucked up creature straight out of a horror movie. The only difference was, with a movie, I could get up and leave the room or change the channel. This was all real. This was all right in front of me.

I squeaked as I flung my door open and tried to rip the key out of the lock. It must have been my nerves because I couldn't manage to get the key out. As it came closer I gave up on the little piece of metal and slammed my door when I was on the inside. I locked it quickly and backed away from the door, hoping the thing didn't know how to use a key. _I wish we had a dead bolt. _Before I moved to do anything else I closed the curtains and deliberately didn't look outside. I had no intention of seeing that thing's face again, nor the human remains laying in the yard.

A snarl sounded as the creature launched itself against the door and I jumped. I was worried that my door wouldn't hold. Moving quickly, I grabbed the coffee table from my living room and set it near the door. As I pushed it into place I watched the door, as if any moment that horrible thing would burst in.

After some long moments of the situation not changing, I decided I'd be safe enough to move throughout the house. I hit the kitchen first. The room seemed relatively normal, except for neither set of car keys were hanging on their hooks. My mother, at least, would usually be home at this hour. But, a quick trip to the garage confirmed my parents were out.

I went upstairs to Ruby's room next. I called out softly a few times, but she wasn't at home either. A gnawing worry entered my stomach. _I'm alone and I have no idea where my family is. This is great._ I closed her door gently as I exited and went to my own room.

Something about my bedroom was so comforting. I just wanted to lie down on my bed and wake up and everything would be fine again. My parents would be home, saying they got stuck in traffic. Ruby was just at a friend's house. The murder in my front yard was just a dream.

I moved to my closet. The only bag I had to take with me was my Red Racer backpack from freshman year. That brought back feelings of disgust. Don't get me wrong, my backpack was badass, but the first year of high school was interesting to say the least.

I set the bag on my bed. Pulling some clothing from my wardrobe, I fit as many articles as I could into half of the bag's space. I also grabbed my phone charger and tucked it into the front pocket.

The last thing I went to grab was a metal baseball bat from the far corner of my closet. I hadn't touched the thing in years. Not since that annoying team our parents practically forced us onto. But it was the only thing I had to fight with. The only place I could get a better weapon would probably be Jimbo's. Maybe that was where I'd head next.

I glanced at the table where I used to keep my guinea pig, Stripe. As terribly sad as it was when he died a few years ago, it was probably a good thing he wasn't alive now. I couldn't have stood abandoning him.

I grabbed my backpack and went to leave the room. Although, when I reached the door, I turned around and leaned on the door frame. I took in everything about my room: the smells, the looks, the feelings. It occurred to me that it might be the last time I saw my room, maybe even my all too familiar house. I compelled myself to exit and closed the door carefully, just as I had Ruby's. My fingers lingered on the door handle a moment longer than necessary.

When I walked down the stairs, cautiously, might I add, I could still hear the banging on the door. It hadn't even lessened a little bit. The monster was still going full throttle against my door and it made me wonder what kind of strength this thing had. Even though it hadn't broken past my door _yet_, I still felt the need to walk quietly through my living room.

My kitchen was just as lonely as when I left it 15 minutes ago. Everything was still in order, the same amount of food in the pantry and fridge as when I left for school this morning. Nothing in my house had looked disturbed or as if it had been thrown around in a panic, but the cars were gone and my family was still out of touch.

I set my baseball bat on the counter and raided the pantry for a few bottles of water and whatever food I could pack into my mostly full bag, the whole time aware of the relentless banging against the door. As I grabbed all of my things and reflected a moment before venturing out into my back yard, there was a small crack as weight landed again and again against the entrance to my house. It seemed I got what I needed in the appropriate amount of time.

When I stepped outside the sliding glass doors as quietly as I could, I was greeted by a weird feeling. If you've ever snuck out of your house at one am or sat on the porch in the morning while the sun was coming up, you'd know the feeling. It was a strange sort of refreshing calm that made you think you were the only person alive. If I ignored the dulling sound from my front door, I really did feel like the only thing alive.

Hopping my back fence came with slight difficulty. My moderately tall fence was plain, pointed wood and wasn't very good for climbing over. So instead, I climbed the small tree my mother had planted years ago which gave me just enough air to step onto and over the fence.

The neighbor's yard behind my house was empty too. The only thing setting in it was a typical children's play set: just a slide and two swings. I wondered if these people's children would ever play on it again. I ran down the side of the house with my bat in hand and checked the street. There wasn't any immediate danger so I crossed to the other side.

I ran down a few more streets before I ran into any trouble. As I approached another street, sirens I had started hearing a couple minutes ago got louder. I ducked behind the cover of a porch and peeked through the railing. A few cars were parked along the street and a few others were crashed. There were at least three of those awkward walking freaks. A police officer was on the ground.

I sat there crouched, watching the scene unfold. The officer wasn't moving quickly enough. His leg had some sort of gash in it and a monster crawled toward him, its own legs crushed. The officer was yelling into his walkie talkie, words slurred together in fear. It was obviously too late though, as the other two monsters had advanced and went right to him on the ground. There was ear-piercing screaming and I was horrified.

I couldn't help. Not only was I sure I couldn't take three of those things with a baseball bat, but I wasn't going to risk my own life for someone who wouldn't make it anyway. I never realized how much I looked out for my own well-being until about two hours ago.

The screaming continued: raw gurgling now. My eyes didn't leave the scene for a second. I then knew the kind of ruthlessness these creatures exhibited. How, if I were ever pinned down by one, I would feel no mercy. I had to show them the same kind of respect.

The police officer was dead now but the creatures hadn't stopped ripping organs from his chest and muscle out of his arms. It got hard to watch and I cringed as my stomach and head whirled at the same time. I bet that guy hadn't done anything to deserve that.

I heard movement behind me and snapped quickly out my fixation. Another one of those things was staggering toward me through the grass. A little dizzy, I clutched my bat and darted out and away from the porch. The three that were feeding didn't notice me and I lost the one that did after crossing over to another street.

I was only a few blocks away from the street I needed to be on. Once I was there, all it would take was a left turn and a short walk before I was at the gun shop. Surely Jimbo would cooperate with selling a minor a gun, it's not like he ever cared about the law.

On that same street, to the right, would be the mall and then Token's neighborhood. I considered heading to his house but he wouldn't answer his phone either. As soon as there was danger, his family probably got him from school and disappeared on their private jet. Even if I could make it over the gate to their community, there's no guaranteeing what was on the inside; or if I could get back out. And at this point, heading towards that side of town would mean passing the mall and I'm sure that was a mess.

As I made my left turn, I saw another freak. "He" was stumbling toward the sound of more sirens. I looked down the road to the right and saw groups of moving bodies. Whether they were humans or creatures, I wasn't sure. But, I suddenly felt relieved over having chosen to not go that route.

There wasn't a single soul as I walked undisturbed toward the shop. The town felt more ghostly than ever. I didn't know how many had left, were dead, or were hiding in their homes from the murder occurring right outside their windows. It was madness and panic that had ensued from something. From these things filled with murderous, cannibalistic rage. How long had they been roaming the streets? Had they been out here before I even left for school this morning? Why didn't we know about it?

The only thing creating space between me and the gun shop was a small alley, probably used for the dumpsters. A mumble uttered from the alley and I stopped in my tracks. Listening, more inhuman squeaks and gasps bounced off the small walls. Whatever was in there might notice me go into the shop, it would be better to take it by surprise. I gripped my bat with white knuckles and prepared to throw all my strength into a single swing. Right to the head, that would knock it out, surely.

When I swung around the corner, prepared to make my first strike against one of these things, I was _(pleasantly?) _surprised.

"Tweek?" I lowered my bat a little.

He looked up quickly, clearly startled. Tweek looked like a mess. He was hugging his knees to his chest, rocking and shaking more violently than I had ever seen him do before. His eyes still had their classic dark circles, but it was offset by how puffy and red they were. Tears streamed down his face and it looked like he'd been crying for a while.

"C-Craig?" He looked right at me and then hid his face. I approached him in the alley and knelt down beside him.

"Yeah. What are you doing here?"

He didn't respond and continued crying into his arms. I tried again.

"What's wrong?"

He began shaking his head. "What's wrong? Is that really a question?" he mumbled.

"What happened?"

Tweek swallowed and looked up at me. His eyes looked even worse up close. Veins crept along his pink eyes. The blue-green of his irises was an awful contrast, as if it shouldn't belong there at all.

"They're dead."

That made me nervous. "Who is?"

"My parents, they're fucking dead. They just kil—"His voice cracked and he sobbed more into his arms.

His parents were dead? It made me wonder who else I knew was dead.

I didn't want to push him to talk about it. I honestly didn't know what to say. There's nothing you can really say to _fix _pain over loss, just reassuring murmurs and a shoulder to lean on until they get past it themselves.

I pressed my lips together. "I'm sorry…" He didn't react.

"We can… I mean, you can… We'll find somewhere we can relax, but, we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Tweek just breathed heavily, still not acknowledging me.

This was starting to get frustrating. I felt awful for him and as much as I wanted to sit there with him for hours and comfort him, we didn't have that kind of time. It looked like Tweek was on board with me (_was I just supposed to leave him there?_) so we needed to leave.

"I'm going to go into the store and get a gun, okay, Tweek? Just keep lookout and then we will get out of here." That caught his attention.

"You want me to be lookout?" he asked disbelieving.

"Just for a few minutes. Let me know if something's coming."

Tweek tried to protest but I left him there in the alley anyway. It was heartless, but like I've said, I wasn't going to get caught dead in the city. I wasn't going to abandon him, but I wasn't going to let him drag me down either.

I looked left and right on the street and didn't see anything. I opened the store door and expected to see someone behind the counter, but maybe I just hope for too much. The place looked just as abandoned as all the side streets in town. All of the guns that must have been here days ago had disappeared in some blow out sale, because the only ones I saw were a few pistols and a rifle in a display case.

"Hello?" I asked as I approached the case. I called out a few more times but no one seemed to be there.

I set my bat on the counter and walked around behind the case. Just as I had expected, there was a lock on it. Not even the kind with a key I might be able to find somewhere in the store. It was the kind that required a set of numbers. I cursed to myself and inspected the rest of the store.

Anything that was on the walls that I might have been able to use was gone. The entire store looked like it had been stripped and not yet re-stocked. The door to the backroom was locked as well and my heart sank.

The only stroke of luck I had inside the store was one cabinet that hadn't been closed. There were no guns, but there was a compound bow that had fallen onto the floor behind the case. I'd never shot a bow before, but I guess I could learn.

I made a mental note to the grab that if I had no other options. I inspected the original case again, the one with the three guns. I grabbed my bat and wondered if this was going to be a waste of time. I raised the bat back and swung it hard into the glass. All it did was hurt my wrists from the vibrations and it didn't leave a dent on the glass. I rammed the bat into the glass a few more times and still made no progress. Maybe if I had the right thing to hit it with and more time it would've worked. Tweek busted in the door seconds later.

"One of them is coming!" he stopped and looked around. He was still shaking like a scared dog and now clutching his hands to his chest.

I was suddenly alert. "How far?"

"I-it came from across the street."

_Came? _I looked up at the glass store doors and saw a body coming towards us slowly. Twenty, thirty feet away maybe. "Fuck, why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

Tweek was apologizing through his fear but I ignored him. This wasn't the place. I leapt for the bow on the ground and looked around frantically for arrows. I saw them on the other store, on a shelf just above Tweek's head. I ran past him and shoved the bow in his arms, which he almost dropped out of surprise.

I didn't know what kinds of arrows were used for what kind of bows, so I grabbed a couple of packs. Before I left the shelves, I saw a little quiver that looked like it hung at your hip. Deciding it couldn't hurt to have something to put them in, I grabbed that too and held it all in my left arm.

The creature was only ten feet from the shop now. We were barely going to make it without confrontation.

"Tweek, come on!"

We shoved through the shop door and Tweek screamed as we just missed the creature. We took off running to the right. Once we got far enough away to slow down to a jog, I made Tweek hold some of the arrows I was carrying.

"Can we stop?" Tweek sounded desperate.

"No, not yet."

"Please?!"

"Fine, fine."

Tweek collapsed onto the ground, dropping all the things he was holding rather harshly. If I was in any other mood that wasn't scared to death, I probably would've commented on how he shouldn't have a dropped a nice bow like that on asphalt.

He wasn't crying anymore, I think he was in too much shock to do so. He was staring at the ground, wide eyed and gasping to gain his breath back. I was actually happy he had asked to stop, because I realized how worn out I was from this day already.

"So this is the plan," I began through breaths, "We're going to head out into the fields surrounding the city. Then we'll go around until we find the train tracks. It's going to take longer, but I think it's a lot safer."

"Whatever…"

Tweek had softened and was about to start crying again. Now that we were out of the main danger of the town, I wasn't so alert and started to feel really sorry for him. Tweek had always been someone who got stressed out terribly easy. I couldn't imagine what he was going through right now.

"Hey," my voice was gentle, "I promise, as soon as we make it to a safe field we'll take a break."

His arms shook as he got back to his feet and picked the stuff he was carrying off of the ground. We walked from then on. We didn't speak at all the entire walk out of town. Once we were around a mile out, I saw the first thing that gave me hope. There was a small campground that had formed in a clearing with a few trees. We approached it and they saw us minutes before we got to the fire at the center of the camp.

A man sitting in a foldable lawn chair with authority was the first one to address us.

"Well, looks like ya' fellas made it out."


	3. Chapter 3

_ "__Well, looks like ya' fellas made it out."_

The man must have been around his mid-forties. He had relatively short red hair and sideburns. The color looked a lot like Skeeter's or even my Father's. He wore a bulky, brown coat that for the most part hid his round gut, of which I attributed to the beer he held in his gloved hand.

"Yeah," I responded. The camp was small, comprised of only about ten people, unless there were more in the few tents that were pitched. Those seated around the campfire shot curious glances in our direction. I tried to maintain my composure and not let them know I found their looks unsettling. I knew we needed some place to stay for the night, but I didn't want to trust random people without assessing them first. I also didn't want to give off any vibe that suggested I should be messed with.

"Could you maybe tell me exactly what we're escaping from?"

"Hah, you tryna' tell me you didn't see 'em? He sure as hell saw 'em," the man said motioning to Tweek with his beer. Tweek, who had been scanning the camp anxiously, shifted uncomfortably.

Before he could make another comment about Tweek's haggard appearance, I interrupted him with more questions.

"No, we did. But why? What's going on?"

The man sighed. "Boy, I couldn't tell ya'. All I know is about five days ago some shit went down in Denver. People just started gettin' up, walking around, and bitin' people. Some military folks showed up tellin' us to hush about it, I told them this wasn't something to be quiet about."

I guessed that explained some things. Although I wasn't sure if that meant the military was involved with the monsters or if they were just trying to keep everyone from panicking.

"So, what are you doing here?" I pressed.

"We're gettin' the fuck out of Colorado. I got family in Texas. All these people here are family and friends, 'cept for a straggler or two we got on the way. We're stuck 'ere 'cause we need gas." He took a sip of his beer before adding, "You ain't been bit, have ya?"

"No…" I didn't know the significance of the question, but I wasn't lying. My answer seemed to satisfy him.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners?"

The man switched his beer to his left hand, sticking the other one out for me to shake. "Hank Greenberg."

I eyed his hand and decided that I could trust these people, at least for the night. He appeared to know what he was talking about. I grabbed his hand and we shook. "Craig Tucker." His glove was cold from where he was holding his drink but I'm sure he didn't feel it. When I let go, he held his hand out for Tweek, who flinched and stared at him.

Hank withdrew his hand. "You're little friend here seems kind of off. Is he shy or just weird?" An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment. Tweek didn't respond and I wasn't sure how to answer his insulting question. "He's got a nice bow though, where'd ya' get that?" Hank looked at the bow greedily and the focus in his eyes unnerved me. I began to reconsider staying.

My thought was interrupted by a woman who had been tending to the fire. She obviously overheard our conversation. "Hank, would ya' quit messin' with the boys. Can't ya' tell they're scared to death?"

She stood straight from leaning over the fire. She was tall and thin and wrapped in a lot of sweaters and scarves. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a bun, but so many strands had fallen out I thought she should just redo it. She took a few steps over to where we were standing.

"Just testin' them," Hank laughed, "This is my wife, Martha."

Martha smiled at us. It looked forced. She looked tired.

"Why don't you boys come with me and we'll find you something warmer to wear."

She reached out towards us, as if to pull us into a hug. This time it wasn't just Tweek that shrank away, I did too. Upon noticing our discomfort, Martha gave us an apologetic look. She then motioned for us to follow her. I could do that much.

Tweek stood close to me while we meandered the camp. He kept his head down, didn't speak, and clutched the bow and arrows tightly. Martha seemed to be able to read people better than her husband, so she didn't bother him. Even when she found a black winter coat for him to wear, she handed it to me instead.

When we followed Martha because she said she could grab some blankets for us, she explained more about their predicament. They had just barely passed South Park when a van – belonging to one of their friends and carrying most of the people with them – ran out of gas. None of the other cars had enough to spare to get all three cars much further. Their group decided that the outskirts of South Park were as good a place as any. They needed to make a run into town to fill up the tanks before they could get going. Martha asked me how it was in town and I said it wasn't good.

Martha left us to our own devices when another woman with a toddler called her over. _How do you watch over a kid in shit like this? _Tweek followed me to a spot underneath of a tree. The tree was still bare, but I could see buds starting to form along the branches. It reminded me that spring was only a few weeks off, but that didn't mean it wouldn't still be cold.

I set all my things next to the tree and spread one of the blankets out on the ground. The next one I folded into a long, thin pillow and placed it at the top. The last one was a comforter which I was very thankful of. When I sat down I pulled it over my lap.

Tweek sat down next to me after I was finished setting it up. I remembered his coat and handed it to him, although he looked reluctant to put it on.

"You'll freeze to death if you don't," I cautioned him.

"Couldn't be a worse fate than this," he mumbled. He put on the jacket anyway. Tweek was worrying me. I had hoped that when we got out of the city he would bounce back some, but he just seemed even more dejected.

"What's up?" I asked.

"What's up," Tweek echoed.

I frowned, "You aren't being very cooperative."

"You're not taking this seriously!" he snapped. Anger flashed in his swollen eyes.

There was plenty of space between us and the other members of the camp. As long as we spoke on a normal level, they wouldn't hear us. Tweek's yell was loud enough to catch their attention, but after seeing we were just talking, they went back to their business.

After Tweek took a breath, he immediately looked sorry. He hung his head and cried silently. I sat there stunned and watched tears fall onto his jeans. I was stuck with the same issue from earlier that day: how to comfort him.

I used to know how to comfort Tweek, I had to. Tweek had been my best friend all throughout middle school. Whether it was annoying kids harassing him, mid-terms, or stress in general, Tweek came to me with it. Usually all he needed was to take a breath, talk about it, and then he'd feel better. His parents never helped him with his problems like I did. All they did was force-feed him coffee when he felt burdened.

Those middle school years were when we were closest. We bonded over little things like TV shows and making fun of the braces I used to have. It was as fun as middle school could get. It was freshman year when we drifted apart.

Not only was our high school cliquey as hell, but it didn't help that Tweek's parents made him start working more hours at their coffee shop. Almost all of his free time went into working. I didn't think he needed to work as much as he did, but at the time he had some fixation on impressing his parents. He wanted to prove he could do something and do it right.

I barely saw Tweek outside of school. With more free time, I started hanging out with my other friends: Token, Clyde, and Kenny.

Clyde and Token almost always came as a pair. We hung out after school most days. During breaks from school, Token's parents would take the three of us on luxurious vacations to the beach or a ski resort.

Kenny and I became friends after we got stuck in the same gym class that first year of high school. I saw him in school and on weekends when he wasn't out adventuring with his other friends. I didn't really hold a grudge against his friends for getting us stuck in Peru that one time, but I preferred to stay out of their shenanigans. Kenny was cooler when he was alone.

But the point was I didn't see Tweek, hardly at all. There was no bad blood between us – not that I knew of – but we had drifted. We hadn't had a real conversation with each other in a couple years and obviously my attempt with "what's up?" wasn't going to be the start of one of those.

I decided to take make one more attempt. I reached out and put my hand on Tweek's shoulder. He tensed but didn't push me away.

"My bad," I started, "I shouldn't push you."

When Tweek relaxed his muscles I let my hand fall to rest on the blanket. He wiped some tears from his eyes with his fingers and then put his hands on the sides of his neck. I thought maybe that helped him calm down or something. When he finally straightened to look at me, he had to push the hair out of his face.

"You didn't see it," Tweek stated with the cracked voice of someone who had been crying.

I debated what exactly I "hadn't seen." If he was referring to the monsters or how they ate people, then I had seen that. I had seen way too much of that.

"See what?" I asked carefully.

Tweek tried to speak but his lips were quivering and he failed at trying to blink tears out of his eyes. Talking about it was too hard for him.

"Never mind, don't worry about it Tweek." I offered a sad smile.

After that, Tweek lay down on the makeshift bed. He didn't get up for the whole night, even when I brought him some stew they had made over the fire. All he did was lay there and cry and I didn't try to stop it. I thought maybe it was just something he had to get out of his system.

I didn't want to sleep that night. I planned to stay up and make sure no one from the camp tried anything shifty. Unfortunately, exhaustion overtook me. But before I passed out, I grabbed the bow placed next to Tweek and put it between us.

When the morning came I was relieved to find the bow where I had set it. It was around ten am when I woke up, which I only knew because I turned my phone on only long enough to check the time. I didn't have any texts. I wanted to check Facebook desperately, but my parents had removed my data plan after I got in trouble at school a month before. In my defense, all I was doing was writing graffiti on the bathroom stall like every other kid in the high school. Somehow I was the only one stupid enough to get caught. Regardless, I couldn't check the internet without Wi-Fi.

Martha and Hank signaled us to get breakfast soon after we had woken up. I convinced Tweek to go to the campfire with me and he sulked the whole fifteen second walk. The food they served was merely cereal and whatever fruit we could eat before it went bad. I was perfectly fine with that. I hadn't dipped into my own food stash yet and I didn't plan to until we left the encampment.

I made myself talk to the other people I had momentarily joined up with. Most of them seemed alright if not a little despairing. Tweek remained unenthusiastic about the whole ordeal, that is, until Martha asked if anybody wanted coffee. Tweek perked up at that.

Tweek brought his cup of coffee – which he had already gotten refilled twice – back to our things by the tree. With virtually nothing to do for the day, I decided it would be a good time to practice shooting the bow. Tweek and I pulled the arrows out of their packs and placed them in the quiver. When we started to walk away to go find something to shoot at, Hank yelled after us. I gestured to what we were doing and he seemed to settle.

After venturing in the shallow woods around the clearing for ten minutes, we found a tree that had been cut down but not yet removed. The base was flat and I thought that would be good enough. It wasn't a huge tree, but it was a large enough target. Tweek sat on the ground to the side of me and out of the line of fire. I placed the quiver on the ground and picked up my first arrow.

I fiddled with the arrow until I thought I had in the correct place. I felt good, I knew I could do it. It would take practice, but I would master shooting with the bow and then I could defend myself. It was simple. I drew the arrow back.

"I don't like these people," Tweek said.

I released the arrow and it spun in a fantastic circle before landing on the ground in front of my feet. I blinked a few times and picked it up to try again.

"Don't worry, we're going to leave," I assured putting the arrow in place again.

Tweek had always been a little wary of strangers, especially after some incidents as a kid. It took him a lot longer to trust people he wasn't familiar with. I knew he felt uncomfortable with the crowd at the camp, especially after the comments Hank made toward him when we arrived.

"Just give me like one more day. We'll take what we can and head for the train tracks," I finished.

I shot the arrow a second time. It spun weirdly but actually made some distance. Except the distance it made was in vain as it soared to the side of the target and bounced off another thin, growing tree. I thought archery was a little more difficult than it looked.

"You need any help?" A random voice asked.

Tweek voiced a "Gah!" and I quickly spun around, suddenly wishing I had my baseball bat. Hank was standing behind me and I hadn't even heard him approach. I wondered if he had heard my plan to basically rob and then abandon their generosity.

I was sorting out thoughts in my head after being shocked so all I managed was an "Uh."

Hank held out a hand for the bow. _He's asking permission. Do I still think he's going to steal it? _I glanced at Tweek. He was looking wide-eyed at me, then to Hank, and then back.

"I'm just going to show you how to shoot it," Hank said as if he had read my thoughts.

I allowed him to take the bow from my hand although I felt uncertain about it. I watched him carefully. I was prepared for some hostile move any second. None came.

Hank pulled an arrow out of the quiver. He said "this one is too long" and proceeded to put it back. He grabbed another arrow which must have been fine because he nocked it.

"With this kind of bow the odd color feather faces up," he indicated to one end of the arrow.

I watched him pull the string back with three fingers and take a moment to aim. When he released the string, the arrow flew straight and correctly. It didn't hit the center of the tree base, but it did land and stick.

"You might wanna' back up some. You'd never be shootin' a target this close up if you can help it," Hank said and handed the bow back to me. A smile flashed on his face and he made his exit. Tweek watched him as he went.

"Do you see what I mean? That guy is weird!" Tweek exclaimed once Hank was out of earshot. I nodded. Tweek sipped his coffee.

I believed there was something off about Hank's presence. The discomfort seemed to have derived from his comments toward Tweek the day before. Part of me didn't want to trust him. Then I began to consider that maybe that was just how Hank was: a little too forward or inappropriate with people. It was something that didn't bother me as much as it did Tweek.

But it didn't matter what I thought of him because we were leaving.

I took Hank's advice and made more distance between the target and I. I also didn't use the other half of the arrows that he said were too long. I was annoyed that half of the arrows weren't very usable, but I didn't know how I was supposed to know any better.

I shot the bow many more times while I made small talk with Tweek. He started to talk on his own without me asking a question first. I thought that was a good sign. I thought maybe talking would distract him from what was bothering him. It was helping me keep my mind off the reason I had to shoot the bow anyway, too.

After I shot the bow for the zillionth time and didn't make much progress, I became frustrated. I knew I was firing it correctly but very few of my shots hit the target. Most of the arrows landed in front of the tree or flew over, which meant I had to go find them in the dirt of the woods.

"I give up," I muttered and moved to sit next to Tweek.

"Is it hard?" Tweek asked.

"To shoot?"

"Yeah."

"Pulling it back, not really," I shrugged, "I just can't hit the fucking tree to save my life." _Good choice of words, Craig._

"Let me try," Tweek said standing up.

Tweek grabbed the bow from me and stood where I had been. I thought it was rude of me but I didn't expect Tweek to do very well. I thought he would mess up and then get upset about messing up. I half-heartedly watched him draw the string back while his arms shook.

In the seconds that followed the release of the arrow, I wore a disbelieving look on my face. Tweek's arrow had not only hit the target, but hit it more or less in the dead center. I almost pinched myself to make sure it was real.

"Dude, how the hell did you do that?" I asked while getting to my feet.

"I-I don't know."

I walked over to stand beside Tweek. "Have you ever shot one of these before?"

"No. Well, not a real one. Just those plastic ones you can buy in grocery stores," Tweek said with a little laugh.

"Not the same thing," I smiled and grabbed another arrow off the ground. I handed it to him, "Do it again."

"I don't know if I can do it again, that's a lot of pressure."

"Come on, you got it," I reassured.

"If you say so."

Tweek set the arrow in place and took a deep breath. I thought my expectations made him nervous because he shook even more than before as he pulled the arrow back. His nerves didn't seem to matter though. When the arrow was released it landed right next to the other one on the tree. _At least one of us can shoot the bow._


	4. Chapter 4

When late afternoon swung around we abandoned our spot by our tree-target. We shot the bow — or more like I watched _Tweek _shoot the bow — off and on for hours. I watched, we talked, and I listened, just like I always had.

When we finally arrived back at camp we were greeted with a commotion. I was amazed to see two familiar hats: pink and green. Both of them were facing Hank, yelling, although I couldn't make out the words from the distance. A crowd had gathered around them, looking uneasily back and forth between the two parties. Tweek and I shared a look of confusion before jogging over to the scene.

"What, is that what you think?!" I heard a girl yell. As we got closer I confirmed it was Wendy. "That you can just abandon people when they are in need?!"

"Hey, little miss, I ain't abandoning nobody. What you got there is someone who is sick," Hank replied. His voice was raised, but not angry.

"So, we take care of him until he's better!" Wendy screamed back.

"This ain't the kind of thing you come back from."

"How would you know?!" Kyle chimed in next. He was standing to the left of Wendy. Once he finished asking his question, Tweek and I arrived.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked loud enough to gain everybody's attention.

Kyle and Wendy both looked shocked to see me, as if they couldn't believe anyone they knew survived the chaos in the town. Both of them looked like they'd been through hell. Dirt and grime smeared their once pristine features. Then there was the blood.

It was caked on their coats, Kyle's gloves, and Wendy's hands. Some of it was old and some of it was fresh. Tweek shrank behind me at the sight. I didn't know what to make of it.

Kyle's mouth continued to hang open in surprise, but Wendy went straight to the point of answering my question: "They're trying to kill Stan."

It took me a moment to fully register what she said. Surely, the people who had taken Tweek and me in weren't so heartless as to kill a kid just because he was sick. "What?" I glanced to Hank and then my classmates.

"Oh, don't say it like that," Hank began, "The boy's been infected. You get bit and you're a goner."

I vaguely remembered Hank asking me if I had been bitten when we arrived. I remained quiet, but the pieces snapped together loudly in my mind. Wendy, Kyle, and Stan somehow found their way to the camp while Tweek and I were away. Stan had been bitten by one of those creatures. The only thing I didn't understand was what the bite did, although I thought I was starting to understand.

I wasn't making any effort to join the conversation then, more like watching it play out before I picked a side. My presence seemed to fuel Wendy's fire though. Her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides.

"No, you're a murderer! He's still alive, he's fine! He just needs some rest and _hospitality_," she spat the last word. Hank's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"No, I'm not a murderer. But if you'd like to think so you can make your way out of this here camp. I'm tryna' help ya' from makin' a huge mistake, but if you want the boy to turn on ya' in the night, be my guest," Hank closed his argument.

Wendy's eyes still raged a war of fear and anger, but Kyle just looked conflicted. He was weighing the points in his mind, a face I'd seen him make many times in the classes we'd had together over the years. Wendy and Kyle were both smart, but when it came to Stan, Kyle was usually more levelheaded.

Before Wendy could retort, Kyle butted in with "Maybe he's right. Maybe Stan really is going to—"

His statement wasn't allowed to finish. Wendy gripped him by the arms, frantic.

"Don't say that! Stan is going to live and I won't believe anything else until I see it."

"Alright, then I'll let ya' see it," Hank stated bluntly, "We'll watch over 'em till he turns and I'll prove ya' wrong."

A hush fell over the group and uncertainty clung thick to the original members of the camp. No one could believe Hank's sudden change of heart. Many people then made outbursts that disturbed the silence, shouting about their distaste with their leader's decision. Hank wouldn't change his mind.

Judging by everyone's reactions, I knew what Hank decided on was a risk; I couldn't help but somehow agree with it though. Maybe I should've been harder on major decisions, but the world hadn't made me that way yet. I wanted to believe Stan would get better, even if I was doubtful. It was the fact that Hank offered a _chance _for him to heal that mattered, even if it was out of spite. If Hank was right and Stan was lost, it still was an important thing to understand. It was kind of a cruel way to teach a lesson, but he had their best interests at heart.

* * *

After the horribly tense conversation I witnessed between Hank and the others, I guided Tweek back to the tree. He had suddenly started shaking after Hank declared they keep Stan alive, even if he was under watch 24/7. Wendy and Kyle, with no other options, remained at the camp, but I thought it was more about Wendy's desire to prove her point than anything else. Those two also decided to trail us back to our resting place by the tree.

We all sat on the blanket I had set out and exchanged stories. I told the others of how Kenny and I split and Kyle voiced his concerns for Kenny's safety. After I finished my story, I realized it was the first time Tweek had heard it too. He said nothing though. He continued to only listen as Wendy and Kyle spoke of their trip.

They'd tried to take Stan's car back to the neighborhood. After making it out of the mess of the parking lot they found a different mess in the streets. They said the main roads in town were blocked, made impassible by abandoned cars and moving bodies. They had to flee from their own car when the creatures blocked any possible escape route. They kept running and said they constantly had to avoid new monsters that popped out of the shadows. They ended up getting lost in the woods, the same woods that Kenny navigated flawlessly. They said when they weren't paying attention, one of the creatures came up from behind some trees and got Stan. After that, they'd struggled to pull him along until they found the camp.

"So he was bitten in the shoulder?" I asked. My voice sounded flat. I had a habit of sounding monotone. It didn't really bother me, but in emotional situations it made me sound like an uncaring asshole.

"Yeah. But it's just a bite, he'll be fine," Wendy announced without a shred of doubt. Kyle, on the other hand, didn't agree with her. I could see it in the dullness of his eyes. He'd already abandoned hope, but he put on a smile for Wendy anyway.

"I'm s-sure he'll recover," Kyle added. He was lying. Wendy didn't notice. Instead, she took Kyle's hand in hers and squeezed. I eyed the gesture carefully but tried not to read into it too much. After all, they'd been through a lot and Wendy may have needed support.

I spoke with them about random topics for around another hour. Eventually, they got up to go check on Stan. I thought it was nice to have familiar people around. It eased my stress and I hoped it eased Tweek's.

"Hank is right," I was almost startled by the sound of Tweek's voice. "Stan is going to turn."

"Into one of the monsters?" I asked with genuine curiosity. I thought I understood the epidemic, but I wanted more clarification.

Tweek nodded.

"How do you know that?"

Tweek was staring at the ground, but not seeing anything; his eyes were hollow. "I've watched it happen." His chest heaved and he released a shaky breath. I watched him patiently, waiting for the details.

"I a-already told you that the monsters killed my parents. I didn't tell you how I found them though."

I remembered him mentioning it, although he left much of the story unclear. He didn't want to talk about it yesterday. _Geez, has it only been a day?_

"School was a blur. Glass broke in the hallway. Before I could even react our teacher was ushering out the emergency exit. They tried to keep us together outside but I ran straight to the coffee shop, cause that's where my parents would b-be." Tweek clenched the blanket beneath him, as if it would stabilize his tremors. "Those things were everywhere, but I didn't stop running. When I eventually made it there, that glass was broken too. The windows and door were shattered. And…" Tears started rolling down his face although he was struggling to stay calm.

"You don't have to talk about it," I stated. I had a difficult time seeing him look so devastated.

"I want to," he whispered. I let him continue.

"They were on the floor. The only color I could see was red, it was on everything. I went over to my mom, even though there was no way she was alive considering how her body looked. I shook her anyway, begging her to wake up. Then she did, but it wasn't her." He took a moment to calm himself. "Her eyes opened and she suddenly looked all wild. She reached out for me using her hand like a claw and I stumbled backwards. I was screaming as she dragged her body toward me. Then I was on my feet, running and crying. I gave out in that alley way, I was there until you found me. It was awful."

Once he had finished talking, he allowed the sobs to rack his body. I then understood why the blood on Wendy and Kyle disturbed him. I had seen some traumatizing things between the school and Jimbo's, but I hadn't seen someone I loved come back as one of those hell-spawns. In fact, I hadn't even seen my parents.

Not knowing where my family was left something inside me empty. I felt all sorts of tension, being in constant suspense of their whereabouts, their health. I wondered if despite the terror of how Tweek found his parents, if there was any closure for him because he knew how they went.

"I don't know where my parents are," I decided to say.

"…I wish them a much better fate than mine."

That sealed the conversation. We sat in silence for a long time. I took advantage of it, to quietly reflect on everything that had happened. Tweek mourned in his own way.

Eventually, his sobs turned into sniffles. Probably the aftermath of his despondency, but not unlikely encouraged by the cold air. It was far more frigid outside than the night before. Just when I thought I couldn't freeze any more, a dainty snowflake landed on my jacket sleeve.

I looked up at the sky and noticed for the first time that day that it was overcast. The sun had set early so the clouds had turned gray from their dark background. The snow was falling slow, but I didn't doubt its ability to soak me to the core.

"God damn it," I muttered as I positioned myself under the blanket.

"What?" Tweek lifted his head up.

"It's snowing."

"Oh."

I pulled the blanket up over my shoulders. It was still cold and it would only get colder.

"Tweek, c'mere." I grabbed his jacket sleeve before he could say a word and tugged gently. He looked slightly alarmed, but allowed himself to be pulled toward me. I wordlessly lifted up the blanket for him and he crawled under it. I wrapped my arm around his chest and he stiffened.

"What are you—"

"It's cold," I cut him off.

He shifted under me and looked away timidly. I was comfortable against him, warm. The moment was relaxing for me. I didn't think it was for him.

"S-so we can l-leave tomorrow, right?"

"Mmph." I hoped that answer played on the middle ground. Tweek had decided he wanted to leave the next day, I hadn't decided that yet though; not after Hank's display earlier. I considered that Hank and us merely got off on the wrong foot. Maybe he wasn't as bad of a guy as I originally thought.

My plan for the train tracks and doing things on my own was faltering. After realizing I couldn't use the bow I wasn't sure how well I could defend myself. Against _one_ of the creatures? Maybe. But what if there were more?

Hank's team seemed like a good option. Maybe a group and a sliver of civilization was what we needed. It was safer and more practical than going out on our own. I was scared to be on my own.

* * *

I shivered into consciousness, still pressed against Tweek. It was a restless sleep. My bones were ice and my nose was red and running, but I was alive. That was the whole goal anyway: stay alive.

The snow had created an extra two inch blanket over us and everything in sight. It might have been pretty if I wasn't so uncomfortable. The precipitation had left much of my clothing wet.

I forced myself to crawl out from underneath the blanket and move to where my bag sat. I shed my blue jacket and hung it over a low-hanging tree branch. Then, I pulled off my chullo and stuffed the edge into my pocket. I ran a hand through my damp hair, suddenly wishing I had brought necessities like a comb, toothbrush, or razor. Trying not to dwell on unnecessary things, I abandoned the thought and exchanged my gray t-shirt for a white one with long, black sleeves.

Only my shoes and the bottoms of my jeans would get wet from walking around. They were still dry as of that moment, so I didn't bother changing them. Tweek was still passed out under the blanket so I didn't tell him I was going to see Stan for the first time.

A few members of the camp were up and brushing snow off of the circle that once held a fire. They cursed out loud at the idea of having to prospect for dry wood. More than one of those members gave me hostile glares as I walked past. I didn't know what for; I wasn't the one that put the fucking fire out.

The tent that Stan was in was separated from those of the rest of the group. It was dull green, relatively small, and guarded by a young man who wore a pistol at his hip. The flap was open so he could see inside, obviously only because Wendy refused to leave Stan's side and he'd had to take on the responsibility of keeping her safe too. Kyle was nowhere in sight.

I nodded to the guy, who was only a couple inches shorter than me, before ducking into the tent. Wendy held Stan's hand and barely registered my presence. A faint smile was on her face as she looked down at him. She may have been treating the circumstance positively but, at that moment, I couldn't understand why.

Stan was unconscious. His skin was pale and graying and his breaths were shallow. The wound on his shoulder was bandaged, but it must have been ugly because there was still blood coming through. He wasn't just sick, he was dying. It became evident to me how impenetrable Wendy's denial was. She didn't see it, she refused to see it. She had abandoned every characteristic that I knew to be Wendy. In a matter of days, the epidemic had managed to strip her of her foundation and reduce her to some shallow leech. I didn't like it.

I remained there for a few minutes in stressful silence. I ended up leaving because the air of the tent was too sad. Kyle was on his way to the tent as I made my exit. I stopped him.

"Look after her. She's not herself," I told him.

He nodded. "I know."

Kyle entered the tent with Stan, and I went to the supplies tent—Martha said I was welcome to anything in it. She was too nice. I could take advantage of the camp easily and be off in a matter of minutes. But I wouldn't. I decided I wouldn't be that person. Although I thought that's what the members that gave me glares thought. I settled on half of a bottle of water poured into a plastic cup and a stale bagel (I grabbed an extra one for Tweek too).

Tweek was awake when I returned to him. He was rubbing his neck with his hand. His eyes were starting to look normal again. The crying was what kept them puffy.

"Where did you go?" he asked through a yawn.

"See Stan," I replied handing him a bagel. He took it.

"Oh… You know, it's really fucked up that Hank let him stay," Tweek said nonchalantly.

Out of all the things I expected to ever come out of Tweek's mouth _that _was not one of them. "What do you mean?"

He brushed the snow off of his blanket in thought. "I mean, Stan's endangering all of us. It seems a bite is what it takes to turn us, so why not put him out of his misery. He's gonna' die anyway. I'm sure he's suffering in that tent over there. I like Stan just as much as the rest of us, but…"

"Wait, wait, wait. So you think we should've just shot him?" I asked disbelieving.

"I think that's the humane thing to do. We're only keeping him alive so Hank can prove his selfish, stubborn point."

"But, they're keeping him under watch. It's not like he's just walking around."

Tweek snorted and shook his head, like he thought I wasn't making some obvious connection. "That's not the point."

I didn't try to argue further. I plopped down next to him and ate my food. I was kind of amazed how Tweek made a switch from crying mess to calm debater overnight. He was still nervous though. I could tell by the way his eyes kept darting up to the tent Stan was in.

After some time passed, the people of the camp stirred. I watched as Hank went around pulling people from their jobs. Then they assembled to one side of the camp. I felt some apprehension when Hank started walking toward me.

"How you folks sleep?" Hank asked when he reached us. Tweek crossed his arms and I responded with "Cold." That elicited a chuckle from Hank.

"Well, we're making our run now," Hank gestured to the assembled people, "to get gas. If you're gonna' stick around, you need to pull your own weight." His voice lacked anything I would consider accusatory. He was generous, but he didn't want people abusing that. He wanted things to be fair, compromise, for people to meet him halfway.

"Are you in?" he asked.

I looked back at Tweek. He was shaking his head. I swallowed. Tweek would be mad at me for it, but if it assured our safety in a group that looked out for us, I could make a run.

"Yeah," I said a little more hesitantly than I meant to.

"Good," Hank smiled, "We leave in ten." He went back to makeshift fire pit that was still stacks of wet wood.

Tweek yanked on my shirt sleeve, harshly, so I would look at him. "What?! I thought we were leaving, remember?" he asked. I shrugged out of his grip.

"Yeah, but I was thinking we wouldn't be safe on our own. I think we have a good thing going here," I tried to reason.

"Good thing? With that creepy old guy and all these people we don't know? Someone who lets the one thing we are trying to avoid right into the camp? Let me get this straight. You're worried about being on your own, yet you're going to go right back into that hellish city and get yourself killed," Tweek replied exasperated. He looked betrayed.

"I'll be fine. They have guns, they'll protect me." It was a weak argument, but I couldn't think with the way Tweek's words stung me.

"Oh, guns. That makes me feel better."

"Ugh, just stay here. I'll be back later," I commanded, annoyed.

"What am I, your dog?"

"No, but I didn't think you were going to come with me. You're too scared for that," I added cheaply. It hurt him.

"…At least I'm not being stupid," he said quietly.

I rolled my eyes and got up. I reluctantly put my wet jacket back on thinking it would offer me more protection. I tugged my hat back over my head by the strings and picked up the baseball bat.

"I don't want to argue with you Tweek. This is the right thing."

"Whatever, man," Tweek sighed. He wrapped his arms around himself.

I didn't want to talk to him any longer because it was just making me mad. I would've liked to stomp away from Tweek, but I didn't want him to get any satisfaction by knowing he provoked me. I made myself walk as casually as possible over to Hank's group.

When I reached Hank and the others, he smiled at me. "Ready to go?"

* * *

**I'd just like to thank everybody who is reading or reviewing my story. It means a lot!**


	5. Chapter 5

_"__Craig? What do you wanna' be when you grow up?" Tweek asked. We were sitting on the reclining couch in his living room. Some shitty movie we picked off of Netflix played in the background. I wasn't really paying attention to it._

_"__Happy."_

_Tweek punched me in the arm playfully. "Come on, don't act like a douchebag."_

_I smiled wide. Then a second later, remembering, I closed my mouth to hide my braces. I could feel Tweek looking at me with that faint disapproval of his. He always told me it was a stupid thing to be upset about. He said that a lot of people had braces and that I shouldn't hide my smile because of it. But he left it alone that time._

_"__I don't know. I mean, the teachers keep asking us what we want to do," I said, "No career is really more interesting than another. I don't really care what I do as long as I get to be a normal person."_

_Tweek cocked his head to the side. "A normal person?"_

_"__Yeah. I know I've still got four or so more years to think about it, but, I think I just want whatever good job comes along. Be happy with it. I don't want the future to be the be-all, end-all like everyone makes it seem." I stared at the green light on Tweek's Xbox that signaled the first-player controller was connected. Sometimes, I wondered if my thoughts made as much sense out of my mouth as in my head._

_"__I get that."_

_"__You do?"_

_"__Yeah, you just want to be average," he giggled, "It's just like you to wanna' go with the flow of things."_

_I smirked. I liked feeling understood. "Mmhmm. I just don't want to have to deal with anything outrageous."_

* * *

The first thing I noticed when we entered the city was the smell. It was rotten, like a dead animal that had been hit on the road. Except, take that smell and multiply it by _a lot._ It filled my nostrils and I felt like I was choking on it.

The second thing I noticed was that horrible silence I'd experienced before. It was more threatening and ominous than loud noises because at some point it had to be disturbed. Whether it was from the sound your throat made when you passed another dead body or the growling of one of the walking bodies themselves, it was almost never good. Luckily, I didn't have to walk through it alone.

Hank had pulled four people besides himself and me to go on the perilous mission. Thomas was the eldest person in the camp. He was the one that knew all about siphoning gas. A mere two weeks ago, he had been the owner of a very well-to-do auto repair shop. Then there was Amberly, who was Hank's niece. She acted sweet, but the way she held a knife in her hand with such a vice grip made me think otherwise. There was Duncan. He was a short, stocky, and spiteful guy in his late twenties. I recognized him as one of the camp members that had glared at me earlier. Last and also least, was some lanky, blond 19-year-old named Carter. He was the son of the woman with the toddler, who I didn't know the name of. Carter didn't speak much. He also slouched forward all the time. It didn't make him look any less tall if that's what he was going for.

It was kind of a weird little group, but I guessed it was what Hank's camp of family and friends had to offer. I shouldn't have been complaining though, there's no way I could've gone to the city by myself. It was a miracle I made it out the first time.

When we reached the first neighborhood street and confirmed there were no threats, we went to work. Hank had explained to me what we were doing on the walk there. They had three cars: a black, 2010, jeep wrangler unlimited, a 2005 Toyota Corolla, and some tan, soccer mom looking van. These were all parked in a row on a street close to the campsite, but hidden from view. Hank pulled two red gas containers out of the jeep — which was his vehicle — and said we had to use them to fill up the cars. Every time the two-gallon gas containers were filled up, he said we walked them back to the three cars as a group. Hank was very adamant on us all staying together.

Thomas enlisted the help of Carter first. Carter wordlessly did his job without an ounce of complaint. Amberly and Hank were talking so I was left with Duncan, who was toying with the hammer in his hands.

"I don't know if anyone's told you or you figured it out on your own, but you hit them in the head," Duncan informed. I didn't respond and I just kind of looked at him. It was new information.

"Hah, you didn't know," he scoffed, "Good thing I told you then."

"Why the head?"

Duncan shrugged. "Don't know. I dare you to try to take them down any other way though."

I didn't pry for any more information and took him on his word. The head probably would've been a logical place to target anyways, but I thought knowing it was the potential only way was good too. I stood around and rubbed at my irritated nose until they were done with the first set of containers.

I was really anxious the first few trips in and out of the city. We stayed on the outskirts, but I was constantly on the lookout for those creatures. By the next few times, after not running into anything dangerous, I wasn't so worried. I had resorted to staring at the snow on the ground out of boredom and kicking chunks of ice around with my shoes.

Later, I leaned on the Corolla as Hank filled up the tank for the umpteenth time. I pulled on my jacket where it still clung to my skin. My body heat combined with the afternoon sun had dried it for the most part, although bits of wet fabric around the wrists were driving me crazy.

"I think this one is good now," Hank said, "If we make a few more trips for the Jeep before the sun goes down, we'll be ready to go in the morning."

"Fucking finally," Duncan groaned. Everyone ignored him. I'd learned throughout the day how outspoken he was. He had an air about him that suggested he felt superior.

We had exhausted all of the safe streets closest to the camp, so we took a different route when we approached the next time. We entered on a street that had been abandoned even before the walking monsters showed up. It was considered a sketchy part of the city even before South Park had earned its right to be a ghost town.

"So, where'd you boys get that bow you had?" Hank asked quiet enough that I would only hear.

"Uh. A hunting shop called Jimbo's," I answered. _Why is he so interested in it?_

"Where's that at?"

"Like, if this street kept going straight, we'd be there."

Hank nodded. He was about to ask another question, but I was distracted by a flash of silver out of the corner of my eye. I turned toward the flash. When my eyes set on a pair of crutches, my bat fell out of my hand. It clanged and rolled around before settling right next to the body.

I stared at what used to be Jimmy Valmer. Most of his body had been torn into, but he was still intact. The monsters must have had some difficulty maneuvering around his crutches. He wasn't just a body though. He was just like all the other once-humans I saw lying on the sidewalks. He was turned, but unable to move much because of how much damage had been done.

The group collectively stopped. They saw what I was seeing, but not in the same light. South Park wasn't their home, it was mine. Jimmy wasn't their friend, he was mine. Every time we walked past a body I tried not to look because every time I was searching the details. What color hair did they have? Were they young or old? Did I know them personally or maybe I just passed them on the street one day? I wanted to know but I didn't. So I forced myself to look forward.

It was an accident. I didn't mean to see Jimmy and I really wish I hadn't. I didn't want to think about how we used to play ninja games together or how he always cracked jokes in class and I had to hold back my laughter.

The look his demon form was giving me made me shudder. He tried to crawl toward me but the crutches on his arms impaired him from doing so. I couldn't believe it was him. I couldn't imagine how far he must have fled to have ended all the way on that part of town.

I felt Amberly next to me. "You knew 'em?" she asked gently.

"Uh huh."

"They think they can mock us by doin' that to people we love. Don't let 'em bother you." She was just tall enough to lean her head on my shoulder. Some of her golden hair rested against my jacket. I was a little confused by how familiar she was being with me. "You've got enough to worry about as is. Our people will live on in our hearts. Celebrate him for who he was, don't fret over him for what he is now, 'cause that's not him." Her last four words had a slight edge to them, like she was making sure I understood something.

She pulled away from me and kept walking. The rest of the group followed her. There were some moments after where I stood by myself next to Jimmy. I let Amberly's words sink in. I had to try not to dwell on it.

I reached in cautiously and grabbed my bat quickly. I knew what she had meant. Would I be able to kill someone that I used to know? I gazed at the bat in my hand and then down at Jimmy. I couldn't do it.

There was a creak of a door behind me. I guessed there might have been some creatures in the rundown buildings. I took it as a cue to catch up to the group. I informed them when I caught up but Thomas said a few of them weren't a problem, so I shut up.

In another block there still weren't any cars on the street, but there was a creature coming at us. The sight made my stomach flutter in a bad way. We all looked at one another, as if to say "Who's dealing with that?"

Amberly sighed. "Alright, I'll get it ya' sissies," she announced as she walked toward the thing with her knife drawn.

"Wait, I can do it," Hank argued as he started to pull out a handgun.

Amberly turned so her back faced the creature while she delivered a response. "Uncle Hank, that's stupid. Don't waste yer' bullets." I almost cried out because of how close the creature was to her. She smiled at her Uncle.

In the following seconds, Amberly spun on her feet and plunged the knife into the creature's eye. The walking-body shuddered and went limp. It crumpled into a pile on the ground as Amberly pulled her knife out. She placed her hands on her hips in an accomplished manner.

The five of us, or at least I, were awestruck. I couldn't wrap my head around where she had gotten so much confidence. But, then again, these people we were with were _her _family. She was protecting them so they wouldn't end up like Stan or Jimmy. I realized I still had people to protect too. It wasn't all lost yet.

There was a gas station around the next corner. Cars were parked in front of it, but I guessed correctly: the pumps weren't working. I wondered how long it took for the power to go out; probably not long. It was annoying how things I had grown accustomed to using didn't work without electricity.

Thomas enlisted Duncan's help on the cars while the rest of us stood around. The gas station was a lot closer to the center of town than I was comfortable with. The more in we got, the more buildings that lined the streets. The more buildings, the more I felt trapped.

"I'll be right back," Hank stated.

Thomas looked up from behind a car. "Where are you going?" He didn't have a Texan accent like Hank and his family did. His old voice was gruff though, which almost made it sound that way.

"Gotta' take a piss," Hank winked. Thomas chuckled. I raised an eyebrow at the exchange. It was kind of creepy. They were friends though. I guessed things between friends didn't change all that much as you aged.

After some time passed and they had finished filling up the gas containers, Hank wasn't back yet. I was seated on the curb by myself because my feet were sore from walking all day; High-tops didn't really give much support. I wasn't in the mood for a search party.

"How long does it take to piss?" Duncan grumbled. He walked around the back of the gas station. He came back after thirty seconds looking worried.

"Well?" Thomas asked.

"He's… he's not back there."

"He's not back there?" Amberly prompted.

"What the fuck did I just say, bitch?" Duncan blurted.

"I was just clarifying! Dear Lord, you've been hot-headed since the day you hatched."

Duncan's lip twitched in anger. I thought he acted like a spoiled child who didn't get their way. And he had at least a decade on me. It was so pathetic it was amazing.

"Would you two stop arguing? I swear, you all can never stop," Thomas interrupted.

There was more bickering behind me. My ears were trained on something else. I heard footsteps. I looked around for the sound. It came from a street we hadn't been on yet. There was a crowd of those abominable creatures heading toward us.

I jumped to my feet and ignored the pain that brought on. "Guys…" They kept fighting. I walked over to the triangle of quarreling that had formed. "Guys!" I grasped their attention.

"What?!" Duncan spat.

I aggressively pointed to the crowd hurdling toward us with my bat. That made Duncan and the others bite their tongues. Everybody scrambled instantly, reaching for bags on the ground and Thomas for the containers of gas.

"What about Hank?" Amberly asked.

"Not enough time," Thomas replied.

We set off in the direction we had come. Once we rounded the corner though, we were greeted with another problem: there were more of them. I thought they must have come from that rundown street we were on earlier. The crowd was equally as large as the one approaching the gas station.

"Which way do we go?!" I heard Duncan ask. Then, I realized the question was directed at me. Actually, everyone was looking at me.

"You lived here right? Which way?!" Duncan repeated.

I rattled around in my brain for a response. I tried to picture the town's streets in my head. My panic was getting the better of me.

I settled on a random street. It would have taken us away from our current danger, although it might have brought us to more. Either way, once I could clear my head for a second, I knew I could figure out where we were.

We ran. The ruckus we made attracted more attention from the creatures. More of them popped out of alleys and joined the pursuit to murder us. We kept running.

I dodged down streets in no particular order with a speed I didn't know I had. I hoped that everyone was keeping up with me, even though they could have picked streets at random just as easily. My mind was racing just as quickly as I was physically. My running nose wasn't helping me breathe. I was starting to get overwhelmed by my confusion. Then I saw a sign for Stark's Pond. _Bingo._

Slowing down for a moment to reassure myself I knew where I was going, the others caught up with me. The sun was setting. My path involved traversing some of the woods before finding the side-road the cars were on. I didn't want to go through them at night so I knew we had to move quickly.

"This way!" I shouted above the noise in my head. I took a steep left turn. The road should have led us directly to the park, and it did, but there was one final obstacle.

There were four creatures scattered across the pavement, too close together to run straight through. There were five of us. We didn't have Hank's gun, but I thought we'd be fine. The threat behind us was fairly far away, enough distance put between us that we shouldn't have been cornered.

"Can we take them?" I asked as I wheezed.

"Of course!" Amberly answered. I needed her confidence.

She charged in first with her knife raised. The first freak went down. She moved to another. Duncan threw one up against the wall and lodged a hammer into its brain. I went to swing at the last one. I thought I had it, until I noticed that I knew him. He was the town pharmacist.

All it took was my few seconds of hesitation for him (_no, _it, _that's not him anymore) _to tackle me to the sidewalk. My bat rolled out of my hand and I was pinned on the ground by the creature. My only solace was that my head hit the grass and not the concrete.

The creature's shriveled face was mere inches from mine. Its mouth snapped at me but I held its chest back with my forearm. Its nails dug into my stomach painfully as I desperately grabbed for my bat. It was just barely out of reach and my hand kept clawing into the dirt. I had made a horrible mistake.

The weight was lifted off of me then. Carter was standing over me, yanking the ferocious monster back by its dirtied coat and sending it sailing onto the road, where Duncan smashed another skull with his hammer. Carter reached a hand out for me to take and pulled me to my feet. I had misjudged him.

"Are you alright?" Carter wondered.

"Y-yeah," I responded shakily while picking up my bat. _Damn thing doesn't want to stay in my hand._

"Pussy," Duncan scoffed. Hatred gathered inside me towards him.

"Oh, leave him alone. You cried the whole car ride here," Amberly directed at Duncan. Although, she gave me side-look that made me feel ashamed.

After that, we continued running until we found the cars. My route had been correct. The few creatures we saw were too far away to be of any trouble.

Thomas moved to go set the containers of gas by the jeep when a body popped up from in front of the car. I was startled and took a step back. I thought I was just about at my breaking point for the day and couldn't handle seeing another creature. Until I realized it was Hank.

"There you all are," Hank said.

"What do you mean here we are? Where the hell did you go?" Thomas inquired while panting.

"I saw a little shop near the gas station and went to check it out. Y'all were gone when I got back, so, I came straight here."

The four of them questioned Hank further and he returned them flaky answers. They seemed more relieved to find him alive than worrying about it though. Everybody else seemed to settle on his explanation, but I didn't believe him. He abandoned us.

I thought Tweek was right about Hank. He was right about him being suspicious. He wasn't right about everyone else though. Even when Hank disappeared, the rest of them looked out for me even though they didn't have to. I still stood firm that staying with the group was the right decision.

* * *

The sun was almost all the way down when we entered the clearing. Everything was pretty, orange, and purple. It didn't at all reflect my mood or my emotions or the fact I almost died an hour before.

Almost everyone who had remained at the camp was on alert as soon as they saw us. I saw some people counting heads to see if anyone didn't make it. Others got up immediately to hear about the adventure first-hand. I hung on the edge of the group. I wasn't in much of a mood to talk.

In the midst of the conversations I heard around me — which were rather cheerful considering what happened — I noticed Tweek walking toward me. Well, he was walking. Then he started running. I began stepping back when I realized he wasn't slowing down.

I let out a grunt as he barreled into me, wrapping his arms around my back, and almost knocking me off balance. Tweek breathed raggedly against my chest and I had an overwhelming surge of guilt for leaving him. I let my bat fall from my hand for the third time that day and held him.

All the people next to me took note, but didn't make any remarks before returning to their conversations; except for Duncan, who snickered. I lazily lifted a middle finger off of Tweek's hair and sent it in Duncan's direction. The guy had been an unbelievable prick the entire day.

"I'm sorry," Tweek mumbled into my chest before releasing me. He sniffed and then concentrated on something above my eyes. He reached forward and touched my hat.

"Is this dirt?"

_Shit. _I hadn't thought to take how I looked into consideration. I must have gotten dirt all over myself when I struggled with that monster. Not to mention the fact I felt so drained I must have looked haggard. I didn't want Tweek to worry about me and I wasn't helping myself on that one.

"Why are you sorry?" I changed the subject.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Hank interrupted, "but I need to speak with you." He aimed the comment at me. The group that had surrounded us before was making their way to the fire, so it left Hank, Tweek, and me alone. I was upset with Hank and would rather have not conversed with him, but with no one else around I didn't see a way out of it.

I raised my eyebrows. It was the only indication I gave that I heard him. If he was going to bother me, I was going to make sure he knew I was annoyed.

"I have something for you," Hank continued. He swung his backpack from around his shoulder and onto the ground. He unzipped the largest pocket and pulled out a long, rectangular box. He handed it to me and I took it uncertainly. When I inspected it, I realized it was a pack of arrows.

"Those are the right size."

"You went to Jimbo's?" _So that's where he disappeared to._

"Yup. Wasn't hard to find either. I didn't mean to leave you all for that long it was just quicker if I went by myself. Didn't think you'd run into a horde of them fuckers."

Tweek tensed and looked at me for confirmation on Hank's statement. The one thing I didn't want to tell Tweek and Hank blurted it out of his mouth. I closed my eyes in frustration and wished I was just asleep or somewhere else.

"Thanks anyway," I mentioned wearily.

Hank took his leave. I was back to thinking he wasn't that bad again, even though his idea of "staying together" apparently didn't include him. I knew I wouldn't count on him as significant back-up anytime soon.

I ignored all of Tweek's questions until we got back to the tree, where I dropped to the blanket so quickly I felt disoriented. My fatigue washed over me like a tidal wave, but I willed myself into a sitting position against the tree.

If there were walls around us, Tweek would have been bouncing off of them. I swore he was calm a second before, but then he got impatient when I wouldn't tell him what happened. I finally caved in and explained the day to him. I told it fully but spared the detail of Jimmy's demise. I didn't believe Tweek deserved to hear that part. The whole time during my explanation, Tweek watched me with such a look of concern on his face I was taken aback.

"I should've gone with you," Tweek said when I finished.

"No… You…" I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say. I just wanted him to stop feeling bad.

"Craig, I should have. You were right, I'm terrified and I need to get over it. After I stopped being mad I just wanted to apologize for fighting with you. Then I started thinking what if you never came back and I couldn't. I almost tried to run after you, but I thought I'd get lost or attacked or I don't know. I'm just sorry."

He was tearing up. I wondered how I was supposed to comfort him when I was a mess too. I didn't cry a lot, I never had, but after what I had seen the past few days, I really wanted to. But I decided that at least in front of Tweek, I wouldn't. I had to protect him, and that meant staying strong in front of him.

A high-pitched tone disrupted my thoughts of worry. Wild screaming rang out in the clearing. It was a girl's shriek that aided my growing headache. I had forgotten all about Kyle and Wendy. I'd been so distracted.

The scream came from the tent Stan was being kept in. Tweek and I watched as the tent toppled over on its side from the movements of those inside it. The young man who had been guarding it desperately tried to open the flap from the outside. He finally got in. Within seconds, the sound of a gun being shot echoed in the clearing and that was it. We both knew exactly what it meant.

Before that day, I had just sort of accepted my situation. I had ignored seriously questioning why any of it was happening or acknowledging any of the pain that came with it. After the confirmation that Stan had in fact turned and was shot dead in a nylon tent, it was the only thing on my mind. The reality of the event hit me straight in the gut and I wanted to puke up the nausea. It was too much.

The images that were stuck in my mind had occurred far too recent to be anything other than vivid: Jimmy's persistent corpse, the viciousness of our undead, town pharmacist, or the sickly Stan that animated only moments ago. The sound of the gun didn't leave my ears either. Or, at least, I thought it was the gun. There was a ringing in my ears, but maybe that was the sound your sanity made when it left you.

Within moments, Tweek turned on the waterworks again. He cried into my lap while I sat there numb and terribly on edge: a horrible combination. I hoped all the tears relieved Tweek of his agony because holding mine in stressed out my chest.

Something I learned that night was that time passed agonizingly slow when you were distressed. All I wanted to do was sleep, but somehow my body couldn't justify resting before eleven o'clock. It was only about seven.

By the time Tweek had stopped crying, I'd calmed down a bit also. I had had a nice meditation period of staring at nothing and feeling everything. But, at the very least, some of the intensity of those emotions had passed. I took a slow breath in an attempt to relax my muscles further.

"Craig?" Tweek's voice was weak. It was the first time he'd spoken since he stopped crying. He was huddled up against me. The tree I was perched against was starting to get wildly uncomfortable but I stayed, only so I wouldn't disturb him.

"Yes?"

"I don't want to be scared anymore." _Don't we all? _

"I don't think you can really eliminate fear."

He looked up at me with strain in his eyes, like I had just crushed some forming dream of his. I cleared my throat and went on to elaborate.

"I mean, it will always be there, but you can overcome it. Like, you acknowledge the danger but then are brave enough to still work with it." _Did that make sense?_ I chewed my lip. I probably wasn't in any condition to give advice.

Tweek paused a second before asking, "So, I want to be brave?"

"Or careless," I added with a tired smirk.

"Do you think I can do that?"

Knowing Tweek's spastic nature I debated the question in my head. I didn't want to lie to him and give him some false sense of hope if I wasn't there backing him up. But, on multiple occasions since I met the kid, he'd always kept going through his fear despite its hindrance.

"Yeah, I do."

He seemed to relax at that and let his body rest on me a little more. After he was asleep, I kept watch that night—much against my will. The moon was slim and provided little light, but it did give me a better look at the stars. Cliché, but it was the only thing tying me to my sanity. Every time I looked around the edges of our clearing, I saw something or heard a stick crack or someone's snoring was the snarling of one of those creatures. I knew I passed out at some point because in the early morning my sleep was disturbed by bloodshed.


	6. Chapter 6

Everything was black, solemn static. I felt stressed even as I slept. I'd wake up for mere seconds at random intervals from the pain in my back, but made no effort to move. Usually, waking up was the loophole to bad dreams because you knew nothing wrong had actually occurred. Except, I wasn't having dreams and my reality was the problem.

It was still dark when I woke up the final time. Uncharacteristic shouts made me uneasy and my hazy vision adjusted to the night. My eyes immediately went to the fire that flickered and illuminated the three people the shouts originated from. I couldn't comprehend their yelling, but they moved frantically around the circle of tents telling people to wake up. Everyone was slow to react.

I looked around for the cause of the panic as nothing seemed out of place. Then a shape came into view where the fire's light still provided visibility. A battle cry was issued as the man who had once guarded Stan's tent slammed a log into the shape. My lungs squeezed out a taut breath in understanding.

"Tweek," I nudged the sleeping shape leaned against me.

"Mm," he made a little sound. It was something I'd actually describe as cute.

I began to push myself up from my sitting position by my hands. "Tweek, you need to—"

My mouth went dry. I stared questioningly at the darkness to make sure what I was seeing was actually there. "Get up," I said suddenly very serious.

He made another noise like he was jocosely protesting my words. I ended his cheerfulness very quickly. I practically shoved him off of me in order to stand up. "Get up," I stated more severely.

His eyes flew open, looking offended. "What's your deal?"

"Look," I gestured to an area past the light of the campfire, where the trees that separated us from the town stood. On first glance, it just looked dark. If you looked closer, you could make out a mass of shadowy figures trudging toward us idly.

"Get your stuff," I finalized. Once Tweek connected with what I was seeing, he dropped whatever had happened seconds ago and reached for the bow and arrows. That was all he had aside from his clothes and the black jacket. After our shooting experience it was clear that the bow was his, even though we never spoke of it.

I shoved the few pieces of clothing I'd thrown around or hung on the tree back into my backpack. I zipped it up hurriedly and slung it on to my back. I picked up my bat and made sure I had everything. Tweek was rolling up one of the blankets but I told him we didn't need it.

Within those few moments, the situation had worsened. More creatures closed on the camp. They came mainly from the town, but others approached from alternative routes. Those rogue creatures were the ones that dug into people's tents who were still sleeping; I heard screams and bloody murder from them.

Everybody else, that was up and standing, scattered. Groups of the creatures fanned out to pursue individual camp members. Nothing in the immediate area was safe. The whole clearing turned into utter chaos.

I ran blindly through the confusion. My only resolve was to find someone I knew, like Amberly or Carter. I needed someone to guide me or tell me how to help. In my turmoil, my shoulder slammed into someone. I turned to see Kyle in front of me.

"Dude, I was just coming to get you," he said.

I nodded quickly a few times in recognition and kept going. It was nice to see Kyle unharmed, but he wasn't who I was looking for. Gun shots started going off and I followed the sound. There were only three guns in the camp, so it was as good a lead as any. The trail ended with Hank.

He was separated from everyone else, standing his ground out in the open as monsters surrounded him. He fired his handgun with precision until the five or so monsters in front of him went down. As we ran closer I noticed another creature heading toward him, which he failed to see.

"Hank, look out!" I yelled.

He turned to the sound of my voice and raised the gun, not even questioning the validity of my warning. As he went to fire, his gun made a clicking sound and I saw a brief look of terror on his face as the monster lurched at him. It went straight for his neck as they fell to the ground in a struggle.

I rushed to him with my bat raised and swung it into the creature's head without hesitation. The body flew from off of Hank and landed on the grass next to him. I was a little surprised how easy it was. I thought I killed it but I wasn't concerned with that. I was more concerned about the open wound on Hank's neck that was spilling blood.

I dropped to the ground beside him. "Hank!" I tapped his face. His body was going through spasms as blood continued to bubble out of his neck. The monster had gotten quite the bite out of it. He looked at me blankly as he struggled to breathe.

My gaze was fixed on his face. I was disconnected from everything happening around me and I felt thoroughly helpless. I didn't know how to fix his wound. The extent of my medicinal knowledge was applying pressure, which would've been to no avail.

I decided that I was the worst at people's deaths. I didn't know how to cope with it, how to ease them into death, or how to remember them after they were gone. I'd always been a good listener but I was so sick of hearing people's dying breaths or the pounding in my head that had showed up recently.

I couldn't save him. People were dying around me, I could hear them, and I couldn't save them either. It kept coming down to the fact that I couldn't save anybody else or even myself. I wanted it all to stop; I even whispered the word "stop." But the blood kept pooling around Hank's head in the grass and I didn't think he could understand me anymore.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. My hands went to search his jackets pockets. _I still have people to protect._

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I kept repeating in a pained voice as I continued to rummage through his pockets. I reached into the front pants' pocket and felt metal. I pulled it out and placed it in front of my face: it was the key to the jeep. I closed my hand around it.

Tweek's squeal behind me reminded me that we weren't safe. Monsters that had been preoccupied with murdering others turned their attention on us. We began to run in the direction of the cars and left Hank's body to drain and freeze on the ground.

The tree line was only seconds of sprinting away when Kyle yelled "Wait!" I had no intention of stopping for whatever he had to say or forgot, but he ran in front of me, forcing me to pause. With the monsters so close by, I didn't want to waste any more time, much less stay in the battlefield of a clearing any longer.

"What about Wendy?" Kyle asked distressed.

I hadn't seen Wendy since Stan turned. During my time the night before of staring numbly in front of me, I saw Wendy emerge from the disgruntled tent. She clutched her elbows and her eyes looked permanently fixed wide. Anybody that tried to assist her got swatted away. Anybody that tried to talk to her got called a murderer. She may not have been bitten, but she wasn't well. I saw others give her pitiful glances as two people had to drag her away from fighting the man who had shot her boyfriend.

I wanted to tell Kyle that Wendy was already lost. It sounded like something Tweek would say casually and be right about. I couldn't believe it was a thought I was having. It didn't seem fair of me to get to pick and choose who I wanted to save. I wanted to save Hank and practically broke down just watching him die, yet I didn't give a dime about what happened to Wendy.

I wondered if I was being hypocritical by not valuing everybody the same. But if it was something that endangered my own survival, was it somehow justified to put myself first? Who said everybody was some selfless hero?

"I don't even know where she is. I haven't seen her," I responded, hoping Kyle would drop it.

"Let's go find her then," Kyle resolved.

I felt such uncertainty it must have been painted plainly on my face. I didn't want to tell Kyle how I actually felt about it. My eyes went to Tweek who just looked jittery and anxious. As per usual, he never helped me out with heat of the moment conversations.

"Kyle, do you see all this? We don't have time," I tried to reason.

"Craig, you were the one who told me to look after her. I'm not going to leave someone behind. I know I wouldn't want to be abandoned somewhere like this."

I fiddled with my jacket sleeve feeling guilty. I let out a shaky sigh. I couldn't bring myself to turn around, go back into the madness, and try to find someone who might or might not have been there.

"Look, man, I'll go find her. I'll meet you guys at the cars in ten minutes, okay?" Kyle stated.

I nodded ruefully at him. He took off running almost the same way we came. The few creatures that had been tailing us targeted Kyle as he ran by. _He doesn't even have a weapon._

Tweek and I stayed close together as we navigated the woods. They were dark and branches stuck out in every direction. As many times as my face and hands got scratched by tree limbs and weird, prickly bushes, I kept myself silent.

Every time I thought I heard a creature, I would make us stop where we were standing. We would stay as still as possible and listen closely. It was weird not being able to use my strongest sense and it was difficult to keep my breathing muted, but I managed. Once we felt the threat had passed, we kept walking cautiously in a fixed direction.

When we clambered up the ditch to the cars, a body popped up from behind the Jeep. Just like last time it was without warning and I felt sick. Except, this time, it wasn't Hank. It was just another rotting corpse that decided to stand up, only to make my life miserable.

I tried to remember how easy it was to hit the last one. How pathetic it was that I finally landed a blow on one of those creatures but it didn't change a fucking thing. All the courage I had mustered didn't fix anything. Hank was dead, Stan was dead, Jimmy was dead, and everyone else I knew was probably slain too.

I gripped the bat with a new kind of fierceness as the body stumbled toward me. Due to the lack of light, I couldn't see its features. Even if I could, I'd like to think it didn't matter to me anymore. They weren't people, they were monsters. I had to keep reminding myself of that. I had to kill them to survive. I had to take revenge for all the things they'd made me lose.

I held the bat so tightly it was painful. Closing the distance between me and the creature, I threw all of my strength into a single blow. The thud and crack resonated in my ears as the monster fell to the ground. I wasn't finished with it yet.

All of the stress, confusion, and rage I'd felt since everything went south overflowed. I stepped over to the twice-dead thing on the ground and hurled my bat into it again. My calm demeanor flew off a cliff as my body shifted into overdrive. I swung the metal into the monster's head again and again with tiresome strength.

"You all fucking killed my friends!" The bat hit the gooey mess of a face. If there was no mercy for me, there was no mercy for them. "I'll fucking kill every single one of you!"

I kept slamming the bat into the thing's head until I heard the cling of metal on asphalt, and then I still didn't stop. All the while I was yelling incoherent sentences in my animosity. Tweek was clutching onto my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I wasn't even paying attention to his pleading. All I could think about was how the blood of all the monsters combined wouldn't suffice as vengeance. I didn't think the monsters experienced suffering in the way humans did, but it still didn't stop me from bashing its head to a pulp in my fit.

"Craig, please calm down, you're scaring me!" Tweek begged. His relentless tugging on me finally dragged me out of my craze.

"Oh, I'm scaring you?" I asked, panting. It was laughable. "All this shit is happening and _I'm _the thing that's scaring you."

He looked confused. "No, I don't mean it like that. I-I just think you should relax a little, you don't need to hit them that many times."

"They deserve it. You know what, Tweek? This time you were the one who didn't see it," I accused. It wasn't even me talking. I wanted to shut my mouth because I promised I'd do my best not to worry Tweek, but everything was just spilling out.

"S-see what?!" He looked so frightened. I was the one causing it.

"Jimmy! You didn't fucking see Jimmy splattered across the sidewalk or how the town looks. You didn't see the parade of those horrible monsters or the one that came within inches of taking _my face off_. You didn't…" I put my hand on my forehead trying to calm down. "You just didn't fucking see it, okay?" My breathing slowed as Tweek stared at me in shock.

"Jimmy?" Tweek asked. I nodded gravely.

Tweek didn't react how I expected. I thought at the mention of Jimmy's death he would've burst right into tears again, but he didn't. He just shook his head and took the calmest breath he could muster given the situation.

"It's hard, Craig. It's really, really hard," Tweek said.

I supposed Tweek's words were meant to be consoling. We both had it rough and he understood that. I wondered how I could be so snappy with him even though he was trying just as much as me. It was one thing to disagree or to argue, it was another thing for me to go ballistic and yell at him. I didn't feel like myself.

Resolving to remove us from some of the danger, I finally went to unlock the Jeep. Tweek placed the two containers of gas in the backseat that had been sitting by the car. I threw my bat covered in rotten, black blood and backpack in the back as well. I climbed into the driver's seat and Tweek the passenger's. He sat with his bow and arrows propped up from the floorboard. I locked the doors.

Tweek and I didn't talk; I had nothing to say to him anyway. I was worried that any more words out of my mouth would just be wrong and I'd feel worse for losing my cool. All I wanted to do was disappear until I didn't feel so emotional or exhausted. Just take a break from the world and return when I had the energy.

As minutes passed slowly I adjusted the mirrors in the car. I kept glancing into them out of caution and boredom. Once I saw a creature walk by in the rear view mirror, but it kept going.

At one point I went to scratch my stomach and felt something wet. Only then did it occur to me how much blood I had splashed on myself. I unzipped my jacket carefully, rolled it up, and tossed it in the back. I wiped the small amount of blood on my hand on my jeans.

More minutes ticked away and so did my patience. Kyle wasn't at the car and it had been at least ten minutes. I thought the righteous fucker got himself killed. It was such a horrible idea yet I treated it like nothing. I shoved it down. If he wanted to get himself killed, then that was fine. I wasn't going to wait around any longer. I wasn't going to wait until the monsters found their way to the Jeep and got us. Tweek was the only person not dumb enough to put himself in bad situations. Tweek was sensible, Tweek was alive, and he was with me. Myself and him; they were the only things I had to protect.

In another fit of anger I pushed the key into the ignition and started the engine. Tweek glanced up in confusion. "What're you doing?"

"If Kyle wants to abandon me too, then whatever. I'm not getting caught up in his shit," I stated as I turned the headlights on.

"You're just going to leave him?"

"Did you want to go back and look for him?" I questioned.

Tweek shifted in his seat. His silence was his answer. He didn't want to go back to the clearing any more than I did.

I shifted the car into drive and pressed on the gas pedal a little too hard. The tires on one side made a scraping sound as they gained traction on the rock and dirt. The car bumpily found its way to the road right as creatures that must have come from clearing emerged from the woods.

Tweek was pressed back against his seat and clutching the sides. "Gah, do you even know how to drive?!"

"I have my permit." I flipped on the brights.

"Oh, cool," Tweek said sarcastically. He buckled his seat belt. It was meant to make fun of me but reminded me to put mine on too.

"So, uh, where are we going?" Tweek asked. He was watching the road intently.

I tapped my fingers on the wheel in thought. I was only okay with directions. It was fine inside of my hometown — I'd walked every back road there was — but I had never traveled out of South Park much in my life and didn't know what to expect from cities I'd only seen on the Colorado state map. It came down to me just picking another random course and hoping I'd figure it out along the way.

"How about south?"

"Why south?" Tweek took his eyes off the road to ask me.

"I don't know. That's where we were going to head with Hank anyway."

Tweek audibly swallowed and returned to watching the road.

* * *

The car ride was nothing but tension until we found the highway. All of the back roads we took to get to the exit ramp were lined with woods on winding hills. Every patch of bushes or next turn brought with it the possibility of a surprise attack on us. Luckily, nothing really seemed to get in our way. The only time we had to turn around and recalculate our route was when a crashed car blocked off some minor road.

Getting onto the highway itself proved easier than I thought it would be. After seeing the amount of blockage in some areas, I expected the exit ramps to be jam-packed with cars or bodies. I managed to maneuver the Jeep around those obstacles though, while Tweek shrank back in his seat as we moved painfully slow by some shady looking wrecks.

Things improved drastically when we found ourselves moving at a comfortable speed south. The highway definitely had its obstacles, but with three or four lanes to myself they weren't hard to go around. But as the anxiety of getting ourselves to safety relaxed for the moment, it gave me more time to think about things. It gave me more time to feel guilty about things I wasn't sure I could help.

No matter how hard I tried to focus on the road my vision kept blurring. I had lost so much in only half an hour. My mind kept blaring that it was my fault and I wasn't confident enough to tell it that it wasn't right. But how could I have known monsters would show up out of the blue like that?

Tweek was half asleep against the window when my shaking hand found his thigh. It was dead silent outside, the radio wouldn't come through, and as alone as I felt I wouldn't talk about it, but I needed some sort of reassurance. Even though I touched him gently I was holding onto him for dear life. I kept repeating in my head that Tweek was alive and that I wasn't alone. It made me feel a little better. It helped even more when he acknowledged my hand with a slight raise of his head and then didn't push me away.

An hour into our voiceless road trip, when both of my hands were back on the wheel and Tweek was awake, he broke the silence.

"It was the gunshot," he said low.

"What?" I asked also quietly. It felt like anything too loud would shatter the peace.

"When he shot Stan the noise attracted the creatures. Why else would they have all shown up like that?"

Tweek had a point. The monster in my front yard didn't notice me until my front door made noise. The ones in the city didn't come after us until we were too loud on the streets. No creature even touched the clearing until a few hours after that gun went off.

Part of me felt relieved that they all hadn't died from something I did, even though I didn't think I had the capability to cause a shit-storm like that one. But the other part of me still felt guilty. Even if it was Hank's word that kept Stan in the camp, I still had supported that idea.

"…That actually makes a lot of sense," I breathed.

I lost myself in my head again. I began to piece together everything I knew about the creatures: attracted to noise, spread through bites, hit them in the head. It was such a messed up predicament we were in. I went on to remember the slaughter I saw at the camp. I could practically hear everyone's screaming. No, someone was actually yelling.

"Craig, brake or something!" Tweek shouted at me.

I snapped back into focus to see a walking body approaching the front of the car at a rapid speed. I jerked the wheel to the right successfully dodging it but saw another creature that was close. I attempted to turn the wheel back to the left to avoid it, but the tires touched something noisy and slid. All it did was cause Tweek's side of the car to collide with the body and jolt us to a halt.

My body slammed against parts of the car painfully. I had accomplished landing myself in my first car crash because I wasn't paying attention. I looked up to see if Tweek was okay. I was alarmed when I saw blood on his window, but then I realized it wasn't his.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I wondered how many things I could screw up in a single day.

"Y-yeah." Tweek was bent back away from the window holding his shoulder. He watched the window fearfully. "Did that kill it?"

"I don't know."

Tweek exchanged glances with me before slowly edging his face up and toward the window to look out it. It looked totally black outside. As he got close enough to see through it the creature slammed its face and hands against the window. Both of us screamed.

"Ah, drive!" Tweek shrieked.

My foot returned to the gas pedal, but as I stepped on it the car didn't move forward. I could hear a crackling noise as I pressed harder but still nothing. A wheel must have been stuck on something.

"It's not moving!" I yelled back.

"What do you mean it's not moving?!"

I caught a glance in my side mirror and saw the other monster seconds before it attached itself onto my own window. I tore my seat belt off and found myself right next to Tweek, as both of us had retreated to hovering over the center console. I wondered how I was supposed to kill them if I couldn't get out of the car.

"Tweek, hand me an arrow."

He replied "What?!" but handed me the arrow anyway. I rolled down the window on my side slightly. "What are you doing?!"

The monster's fingers slipped around the edge of the glass. They were torn up and filthy. I got on my knees in the seat and angled the arrow downwards. I jabbed it forward. The tip hit the creature's head but didn't puncture. I rolled down the window a little bit more to give myself more room to work with. The next time I went for it, the arrow dug through the frail, decomposing skin and bone. I forced it further until the creature stopped moving. I pulled the arrow out and rolled up the window.

Meanwhile, Tweek's creature had begun to break through the window. Its hand pushed through the glass, drawing tainted blood wherever it scraped. Tweek squealed and half leapt, half fell into the backseat.

I climbed across to the other seat and leaned back. Pressing my feet against the door, I lifted the door handle quickly and kicked the door open with force. The monster lost its balance and stumbled to the ground. I didn't give it a second to react. I immediately jumped out of the vehicle and stuck the arrow into its eye.

The rush of the moment came to a sudden halt once the second body went limp. The road was silent again aside from my breathing. I noticed the arrow I held was bent and discarded it on the ground.

I looked around to check the road for any other signs of creatures. Once I determined there were no more threats, I went to see what the wheel was stuck on. I knelt down next to the back tire. The road near the car was covered in glass and debris.

Tweek opened the back door on my side carefully, checking the highway as well before letting his legs hang out the side. He leaned over to look at the tire. "Can we still use the car?"

I furrowed my brow. "I mean, we can push it to get it unstuck but the tire is popped."

"What good will that do?"

"I don't know." I scratched at my hat. "We might be able to make a few more miles, find an exit ramp."

"Alright," he sighed nervously.

"Get in the driver's seat and give it a little gas. I'll push."

"I've never driven a car before," Tweek protested.

I gave him a stare that told him I didn't care. He reluctantly shut the door and climbed to the front seat from inside of the car. I positioned myself behind the car and as soon as I heard him press on the gas I started pushing. It took a few tries, but we eventually got it unstuck.

Tweek parked the car a few feet away from where it was when we crashed. I walked past the bodies to get back to the car. The whole scene was disgusting. I wondered why we weren't talking about it.

When I pulled myself back into the driver's seat, Tweek had already moved back to the other one. He looked uncomfortable next to the blood covered window, but when I told him he could sit in the back he said it was fine. I shifted the car into drive and continued down the highway, albeit difficult with the ruined tire.

We managed around ten or so miles on the tire before it really started to go haywire. Fortunately, that was just enough time to pull off on an exit ramp and find ourselves on a small, suburban street. I parked the car in front of a house with an empty driveway.

"Are we going in?" Tweek asked.

"Let's wait till it's lighter outside."


End file.
